Use our fantasy football projections for best player futures: Joe Burrow passing leader, Mark Andrews over TDs
The Inside the Lines team's proven NFL model has powered CBS Fantasy and SportsLine projections for over a decade, and they share their 2025 Fantasy rankings for all of the notable running backs
It might be almost time for your fantasy football draft. These are how our team's projections (same ones that power our CBS Fantasy Game and SportsLine) rank top players by position (PPR). The rankings are based on season total FPs, but we display their projected per game average. The number at the end of each name is Fantasy Football Today's Expert Consensus rank. The Inside the Lines Team powers both the SportsLine Model and CBS Fantasy Projections and are now providing their free best bets here.
| RANK | QUARTERBACKS | RUNNING BACKS | WIDE RECEIVERS | TIGHT ENDS |
| 1 | L. JACKSON (BAL) 27.8 | #1 | J. GIBBS (DET) 19.1 | #2 | J. CHASE (CIN) 21.6 | #1 | B. BOWERS (LV) 15.3 | #1 |
| 2 | J. ALLEN (BUF) 27.6 | #2 | S. BARKLEY (PHI) 18.8 | #3 | C. LAMB (DAL) 19.1 | #2 | G. KITTLE (SF) 14.9 | #3 |
| 3 | J. BURROW (CIN) 26.1 | #4 | B. ROBINSON (ATL) 18.7 | #1 | M. NABERS (NYG) 19 | #5 | T. MCBRIDE (ARI) 14.2 | #2 |
| 4 | J. HURTS (PHI) 25.2 | #5 | J. JACOBS (GB) 17 | #8 | J. JEFFERSON (MIN) 18.6 | #3 | T. KELCE (KC) 12.1 | #6 |
| 5 | J. DANIELS (WAS) 25.2 | #3 | D. HENRY (BAL) 16.6 | #6 | P. NACUA (LAR) 18.1 | #6 | M. ANDREWS (BAL) 11.2 | #11 |
| 6 | B. MAYFIELD (TB) 23.4 | #7 | C. MCCAFFREY (SF) 16.2 | #4 | A. ST. BROWN (DET) 17.4 | #7 | D. NJOKU (CLE) 11.2 | #4 |
| 7 | P. MAHOMES (KC) 22.6 | #6 | A. KAMARA (NO) 16 | #18 | B. THOMAS JR. (JAC) 17.4 | #8 | S. LAPORTA (DET) 11.1 | #5 |
| 8 | K. MURRAY (ARI) 22.6 | #12 | K. WILLIAMS (LAR) 15.9 | #11 | D. ADAMS (LAR) 16.9 | #15 | T. HOCKENSON (MIN) 10.9 | #7 |
| 9 | B. PURDY (SF) 22.3 | #13 | D. ACHANE (MIA) 15.5 | #7 | N. COLLINS (HOU) 16.2 | #4 | Z. ERTZ (WAS) 10.3 | #15 |
| 10 | B. NIX (DEN) 21.6 | #8 | C. BROWN (CIN) 15.4 | #9 | T. HIGGINS (CIN) 16.2 | #11 | [53%] D. GOEDERT (PHI) 9.9 | #16 |
| 11 | [45%] D. PRESCOTT (DAL) 21.6 | #9 | [36%] A. JEANTY (LV) 15.4 | #5 | L. MCCONKEY (LAC) 15.6 | #12 | [30%] T. WARREN (IND) 9.8 | #8 |
| 12 | J. GOFF (DET) 21.3 | #11 | B. IRVING (TB) 14.7 | #10 | M. EVANS (TB) 15.5 | #16 | [58%] E. ENGRAM (DEN) 9.6 | #10 |
| 13 | [38%] J. FIELDS (NYJ) 21.1 | #10 | J. TAYLOR (IND) 14.7 | #12 | T. HILL (MIA) 15.4 | #14 | T. KRAFT (GB) 8.9 | #9 |
| 14 | C. WILLIAMS (CHI) 20.2 | #18 | K. WALKER III (SEA) 14.1 | #15 | D. LONDON (ATL) 15.2 | #9 | [55%] J. FERGUSON (DAL) 8.9 | #14 |
| 15 | J. LOVE (GB) 20.1 | #14 | J. COOK (BUF) 14.1 | #13 | A. BROWN (PHI) 15.2 | #10 | [56%] H. HENRY (NE) 8.8 | #19 |
| 16 | [14%] D. JONES (IND) 19.9 | #32 | B. HALL (NYJ) 13.7 | #20 | D. MOORE (CHI) 15 | #29 | J. SMITH (PIT) 8.1 | #18 |
| 17 | T. TAGOVAILOA (MIA) 19.2 | #21 | J. CONNER (ARI) 13.5 | #19 | J. SMITH-NJIGBA (SEA) 14.8 | #13 | [30%] B. STRANGE (JAC) 8 | #20 |
| 18 | [54%] D. MAYE (NE) 19.2 | #15 | C. HUBBARD (CAR) 12.9 | #16 | X. WORTHY (KC) 14.2 | #21 | [64%] D. KINCAID (BUF) 7.9 | #13 |
| 19 | J. HERBERT (LAC) 19.1 | #17 | A. JONES (MIN) 12.7 | #26 | D. METCALF (PIT) 14.1 | #18 | [38%] I. LIKELY (BAL) 7.9 | #22 |
| 20 | [56%] G. SMITH (LV) 18.8 | #23 | D. SWIFT (CHI) 12.5 | #22 | D. SMITH (PHI) 13.5 | #31 | [12%] D. WALLER (MIA) 7.8 | #28 |
| 21 | C. STROUD (HOU) 18.6 | #20 | [36%] T. HENDERSON (NE) 12 | #17 | M. HARRISON JR. (ARI) 13.4 | #19 | K. PITTS (ATL) 7.8 | #17 |
| 22 | [30%] J. MCCARTHY (MIN) 18.5 | #19 | D. MONTGOMERY (DET) 12 | #23 | T. MCLAURIN (WAS) 13.2 | #27 | [33%] D. SCHULTZ (HOU) 7.7 | #27 |
| 23 | [36%] T. LAWRENCE (JAC) 18.4 | #16 | J. MIXON (HOU) 11.6 | #32 | G. WILSON (NYJ) 13.1 | #22 | [7%] T. HIGBEE (LAR) 7.6 | #- |
| 24 | [33%] B. YOUNG (CAR) 18.3 | #27 | T. POLLARD (TEN) 11.5 | #24 | C. SUTTON (DEN) 13 | #17 | [49%] C. OTTON (TB) 7.5 | #- |
| 25 | [46%] M. PENIX JR. (ATL) 17.9 | #22 | [36%] O. HAMPTON (LAC) 10.8 | #14 | J. MEYERS (LV) 12.8 | #38 | [21%] J. JOHNSON (NO) 7.3 | #25 |
| 26 | [64%] M. STAFFORD (LAR) 17.5 | #25 | [57%] A. EKELER (WAS) 10.8 | #34 | Z. FLOWERS (BAL) 12.8 | #37 | [8%] M. TAYLOR (NYJ) 7 | #21 |
| 27 | [39%] A. RODGERS (PIT) 17.4 | #30 | [35%] R. HARVEY (DEN) 10.5 | #21 | G. PICKENS (DAL) 12.6 | #25 | [54%] P. FREIERMUTH (PIT) 7 | #31 |
| 28 | [65%] S. DARNOLD (SEA) 16.6 | #24 | T. TRACY JR. (NYG) 10.1 | #27 | M. PITTMAN JR. (IND) 12.5 | #50 | [37%] M. GESICKI (CIN) 6.9 | #23 |
| 29 | [17%] C. WARD (TEN) 16.1 | #26 | [28%] J. CROSKEY-MERRITT (WAS) 9.8 | #38 | J. JEUDY (CLE) 12.5 | #24 | [25%] C. LOVELAND (CHI) 6.9 | #12 |
| 30 | [49%] R. WILSON (NYG) 15.6 | #28 | Z. CHARBONNET (SEA) 9.5 | #33 | C. RIDLEY (TEN) 12 | #30 | [6%] T. JOHNSON (NYG) 6.8 | #30 |
| 31 | [12%] J. FLACCO (CLE) 11.7 | #31 | J. WARREN (PIT) 9.1 | #28 | J. WILLIAMS (DET) 12 | #23 | [9%] T. CONKLIN (LAC) 6.8 | #- |
| 32 | [5%] T. SHOUGH (NO) 10.5 | #- | R. STEVENSON (NE) 9.1 | #39 | [47%] R. PEARSALL (SF) 11.6 | #32 | [18%] C. OKONKWO (TEN) 6.7 | #26 |
The bolded players are the ones our model feels are underrated. We DO NOT recommend drafting them as highly as our projections would indicate. We recommend targeting them when they are available at their high end ADP tier. For example, we wouldn't draft Mark Andrews in the 4th round even though we see him as a Top 5 TE. We probably wouldn't wait until the 8th round either if he's the 11th best TE as the FFT ECR indicates. But we'd definitely look at taking him in the 6th or 7th.
For some of these highlighted players there are key stat projections driving their value and there are some very enticing season futures lines that you can jump on including:
Joe Burrow Passing Yards Leader (+500 Caesars)
You have to take Burrow to repeat. He is projected for 4848 (Dak #2 at 4405) after he had 4918 and nearly 300 more than #2 Jared Goff last season. Most teams that missed the playoffs in consecutive years with a top 4 QB in the league don't say "let's run it back" but that's exactly what Cincy decided to do. So 100% of the factors that had Burrow blow past the field last season are in play this season
They signed BOTH Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase to mega contracts which eliminated the possibility of significantly upgrading their bad defense or improve their offensive line and they have even less depth at RB than they did a year ago when they started the season with both Chase Brown and Zack Moss who got hurt after 8 games. Samaje Perine and his career 4.1 ypc avg and single season career high of 394 rushing yards isn't going to improve the 29th best rush attack. Burrow had 652 pass attempts (Aaron Rodgers was #2 at 584) because they (and the Jets) couldn't run the ball with so many 3rd and long situations. Burrow and Dak Prescott are the only 2 QBs with >600 pass attempts projected and we'll trust the proven chemistry Burrow has with Chase/Higgins over the unproven potential of Dak to Ceedee Lamb/George Pickens.
Kyler Murray Best Future Bet: Over 474.5 Rushing Yards -110 bet365)
This pick is 100% correlated to staying healthy. When he has played 16+ games he has had 544, 819, and 572 yards, when he played under that he had 423, 418 and 244.
It is encouraging that he had his highest ypc last season (7.3) which shows he is as explosive a runner as ever. He and the coaching staff know it's better for Kyler to be a major running threat and play like "good Kyler" for another 3 or 4 years than it is to stop running, have you height limit your vision, and be like old Russell Wilson and kind of suck for 6 to 8 more years.
Jahmyr Gibbs Over 1075.5 Rushing Yards -110 DraftKings
We are projecting him for 11 rushing touchdowns so there is minimal value vs his 10.5 line. But with 1,276 rushing yards projected we have solid value and the ability to hit the over potentially even if he were to miss a couple games.
David Montgomery averaged roughly 2 fewer carries per game in '24 vs the '23 season and Gibbs was the beneficiary. This trend is likely to continue especially in light of the fact that Gibbs' yards per carry increased significantly from 5.2 to 5.6 despite the increased number of touches. The fact that Gibbs averaged +1.4 more yards per carry last season than Montgomery makes us think we could see a 60/40 split in RB carries and instead of a 13.3 rush per game projection with 1276 rushing yards, we could end up with a 15.5 rush per game and 1400+ yards, and an easy over 1050.5.
Alvin Kamara Over 750.5 Rushing Yards bet365
Backup RB Kendre Miller has done very little in his 2 seasons (269 rushing yards in 14 games on 3.8 ypc). Third stringer Devin Neal is a 6th rounder who is not a burner (4.58 forty) but is not built like a power RB (5'11", 213 lbs).
The QB room is probably the worst in the league. New HC Kellen Moore has had good running offenses and while their YPC may dip the Saints (21st in rushing attempts) may be forced to be top 15 this season. Expect Kamara to continue accounting for over 50% of team rushing yards which is why we have him projected for a 1000+ yards in 17 games.
Mike Evans Over 7.5 Receiving Touchdowns -110 DraftKings
We do project Evans for a record-breaking 12th straight 1000 yard season but the value over 925.5 receiving yards is not as great as the value we have with 11 projected receiving touchdowns.
Evans' % of TD receptions is a tremendous 33% which is way higher than his 22% of team receptions. It looks like Chris Godwin won't be ready to go until October. Godwin healthy and drafting Emeka Egbuka will cut down into Evans' % of receptions, yards and touchdowns. But even a 20% 'haircut' in key % of team receiving stats would still put him at over 25% of team receiving touchdowns. Baker Mayfield's pass TD line averages 30 so Evans can still go over even with a significant drop in production.
Mark Andrews Over 5.5 Rec TDs (FanDuel)
Speaking of Mark Andrews the big reason why we have him projected so highly is we see him regressing from 11 TDs to 9... but not to 50% of what he did last season. Isaiah Likely could very well miss the first few weeks of the season and Charlie Kolar is still more of a blocking TE than a red zone target. Andrews' playoff disappointments do not apply to his regular season production and does not impact Lamar Jackson's faith in him.
He has accounted for over 25% of receiving TDs over nearly 50 games. He crushed over 5.5 last season despite not getting his first TD until mid-October because he was recovering from a serious injury and bad car accident. He's super motivated, in great shape and is clear-cut TE #1.
